He keeps saying "I'll be back", and he never lies. Returning once more as the Terminator, Arnold Schwarzenegger is pinning his hopes on his most famous character stopping the dimming of his star power. "T3" looks set to terminate a losing streak of movies, including "Collateral Damage" and "The 6th Day".

Did you always think there would be a third "Terminator" film?

Yes, I always thought deep down inside it was going to happen, because there is such a demand out there. There was a campaign on the internet and it was clear that's what people wanted, and this is why this movie was kind of created in a much more organic way. It was wanted, rather than a bunch of Hollywood producers sitting together and saying, "Hey, how can we make some money?"

You approached James Cameron to try and persuade him to do "T3" after he overlooked the project...

I'm always optimistic when talking to directors. But it was very clear he could not commit to a certain time, and he was busy, and had other things he wanted to explore. James Cameron is not a director, so to speak, but much more of an explorer, and there is another dimension to his directing. I'm the last person to say, "Hey, schmuck, you really let me down," because I want people to move on.

How have the workouts changed over the years?

On this movie I had to train much harder, because normally in movies there's no real need to be in this kind of shape. When I started this film I was training very intensely - I was training two-and-a-half hours a day, half-an-hour cardiovascular training, then two hours of weights every day - to bring the body back to where it was when we did the last "Terminator" film. That was a key thing for me - you have to get into that kind of shape so it's more believable that it's the same character. It's difficult; you have to have a lot of will and a lot of motivation.

So this is surely the last one?

No, no. Remember, this is the same as when women are pregnant. Every time my wife has gone through labour, she says, "Never again, never again, this is so painful!" But then a week later, you forget the pain and agony very quickly. When you see the movie, the feeling you get when you've been involved in a project this great... man, you feel like you're really high. Of course I would do it again.